Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K #1) (12 page)

Come on…kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me.

Gio leans in and completely bypasses my lips. He brushes a light kiss to the crooked part of my jaw and makes his way down to my ear. When his lips are barely touching my ear, his breath feathers into it as he whispers, “I like to make a woman wait.”

“That was cruel,” I whisper. I feel his body shake against me with laughter.

“It will be worth it, trust me.” He leans back and chuckles again at my playful scowl.

“Have you thought of a nickname for me yet?”

Gio squints his eyes and looks around at the speakers. One of
Muse’s
new songs just started playing. “Hey, do you like
Muse
?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty good, why?”

“You know that song, ‘Madness?’” He turns to me with a grin.

Three beats pass. “Okay, that’s actually kind of brilliant.”

“Madness it is, then,” Gio declares as he wraps his other arm around my waist.

I lean against him, breathing in the scent of his expensive cologne and loving the feeling of his wet, strong chest against my ear. He buries his nose in my hair and breathes in deeply, content to hold me without any expectations. Oddly enough, I’m content too. Just being in his arms while he kisses the top of my head and whispers sweet Italian nothings is pure heaven. We sit like that together until the hot tub gets too crowded and we’re forced to vacate.

After leaving the hot tub, we decide to meet up with Ana next to the deep end. She’s chatting with a beautiful African American girl with a dark pixie cut and stunning, honey-brown eyes.

“Hey, Ana! Who’s this?” I ask as we approach them.

“This is Jerica Valrey,” Ana says.

Jerica smiles and extends a hand to me. Her voice is low, syrupy, and pleasant to listen to. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madison Daley.”

I shake her hand. “The pleasure is mine.”

“Jerica is a business prodigy,” Gio says. “She developed a computer program at age fourteen that a lot of businesses depend on today for their administrative tasks.”

“
Wow
, that’s impressive!”

“Thank you,” Jerica says humbly. “Being a geek has its perks sometimes.”

“She’s a billionaire. Her main house is bigger and more beautiful than the two of ours combined,” Gio says. “And she has five beach houses in different places around the globe. ‘Perks,’ indeed.”

“How old are you? If you don’t mind my asking,” I say.

“Eighteen,” Jerica says, and my mouth falls open.

“I bow at your feet,” I say, bending over at the waist and making her laugh. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how close I was standing to the pool.

Before I know what’s happening, my foot slips and I fall into the deep end. I’m so shocked at first that all I can do is gasp for air and flail around for the edge. I suck water down my throat in my panic and cough violently.

“This way, Mads!” I hear Ana say, and I swim toward her. When I pull up on the edge closest to her, she gasps. “Oh my God…look down,
look down
!” She sounds absolutely beyond horrified.

I look down and suck in a strangled gasp. My bikini top flipped inside out in the water, completely exposing me. I quickly flip my top up, but then I realize something’s missing.

“Where are my…?” Ana points behind me, and I immediately feel like ducking my head underwater and keeping it there.

My cotton balls are floating out in the middle of the pool.

Chapter 13

June 6, 2015

Never Leaving This House Again

So yeah, I just crashed and banged all the way through Humiliation Station.

My swimsuit top came down right in front of Jerica Valrey and Giovanni Abate. Not only was I exposed, but my cotton balls popped out, proving to everyone that I was so embarrassed about my cup size, I thought I had to lie about it. To say I’m mortified would be an understatement. I turned tail and ran as soon as it happened, and I didn’t even look back when Ana and Gio called out after me.

Leave it to me to misjudge where I was standing because I stupidly left my glasses by the hot tub. They’re still there, but I don’t give a shit. I don’t even want to see myself in the mirror right now. I’m squinting my eyes to type this so I’ll remember this feeling and never behave like such a dumbass again. My near vision is okay enough to type. Apparently it sucks when it comes to depth perception and knowing where my feet are.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why didn’t I wear a swimsuit I was absolutely certain would stay on my body? My vanity bit me in the ass, and it was the first time I even allowed myself to have some. I guess I’m not supposed to look good. The universe wants me to be a loveless dork from Kentucky forever.

***

My angry blog post is interrupted by a text alert. I set my laptop down and grab my phone off my nightstand.

Gio: Hey, please come back. No one even remembers it anymore, trust me. They’re all too drunk.

Me: I can’t. Sorry.

Gio: Then I’m coming over there.

Great…now I have to face him. I really was hoping I would
not
have to do that for a few days. I rub the tears from my eyes and let out a shuddering sigh, wondering where the hell Ana is. It’s not like her to not come after me. Then again, she
was
making the acquaintance of a billionaire before I wrecked it all.

Gio knocks on my door five minutes later, and I get up to let him in. I can’t even look him in the eye as I open the door, but he holds something up in my field of blurry vision. “You forgot something.”

“Thanks.” I take the glasses from him and slide them on, still not meeting his gaze.

“Madness, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have even hinted you should take your glasses off. You can come back, it’s okay—”

“No, it’s not. I’ll never be able to face those people again.”

“It’s really okay.” Gio pulls me into his embrace and brushes a kiss against the top of my head. The warmth of his body softens me, and I melt against him. “Most of the people there didn’t even see it, and some who did didn’t understand what the cotton balls were for. Besides, if anyone made fun of you, they’re not my real friends. I wish I knew who laughed so I could deck ’em for you.”

I smile against his chest. “Thanks. Still embarrassed, though.”

“You shouldn’t be. To be honest, that was the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a while.” I yank back to face him, and I’m met with a naughty grin. My face becomes igloo-melting hot. “And I’ll admit, it
was
a little funny because of the cotton balls. But I would never laugh at you. I hope you know that.”

“You just basically admitted you did.”

“Well, can you blame me?” Gio’s voice lilts, and his lips twitch as he works hard not to laugh. “Do you really not see even the smallest bit of humor in this?”

“I might in a few years…”

“Well, I’ll give you that. I just wanted you to know we’re good. And by the way, you don’t need to stuff your bras or bikini tops. You’re perfect the way you are.”

“But…” I was about to say,
“But nothing fits,”
but Gio’s a guy. He won’t understand.

“I could show you my own goods if that would make you feel better.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, making my stomach ache with laughter.

“I think I’m good. Thanks, Gio. The party was great up until my big blunder.”

“It would have been better if we could have spent more time alone together,” he says, and I nod in agreement. “When can I see you again?”

“Whenever you want, neighbor,” I remind him with a grin.

“Right…of course.” He brings his fingers up above my ear and combs them through my hair gently, causing my breath to come out in a shudder. “I really like you,” he whispers, and my heart sings. Scenario 1 just got confirmed.

“I really like you too.”

His eyes glow with a smile. “I have to get back now, but I’ll text you later.”

“Okay. By the way, how’s Ana doing?”

“She went out in Cass’s Jag to get you something as soon as you left. Don’t ask me what it is, I have no clue.” The red convertible Jag is Cass’s spare car, and yesterday she gave Ana a key and said we can use it in case of an emergency.

“Well, okay,” I say, smiling because I know
exactly
what Ana’s getting me. It’s what I always want when I’ve been sick or I’ve been through something hard: a giant bag of cheese puffs and a pint of chocolate ice cream. Not sure why it’s taking her an hour to get it, but I should have known I could count on my Ana. “Text you later,” I say, and Gio gives me a soft, clinging kiss on the forehead before releasing me and trudging downstairs. I wish that kiss had been about four inches lower, but I guess we’ve got time.

Ten minutes after he leaves, Ana comes up and opens my door without knocking. She’s carrying a big bag of stuff from the grocery store and some knives and spoons.

“Sorry that took so long,” she says. “Weird that a grocery store would be so busy at this time of night. Then I got lost on the way back.”

“Ana, you are an angel sent from heaven.”

She lays the bag down on my bed, and not only are there cheese puffs and ice cream, but she also got us chocolate hazelnut spread and vanilla wafers, my other favorite weird combination. There are two sodas in there too. “Are you trying to fatten me up?”

“No, although that may be an unintended benefit.” Ana giggles as I throw my arms around her in a hug.

“I’m so sorry I ruined your conversation with Smart Girl.”

“It’s okay, she asked for my number before I left.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Nice!” I pull back and study Ana intently. She said that in the same tone of voice I used when I told her Gio asked for my number. “Hey, is there something I’m missing here?”

“Uh, no? Why?” Those words were uttered in her breathy, high-pitched ‘I’m lying’ voice.

I really want to press her, but I won’t. If Ana has something to tell me, she’ll tell me. “No reason. So, JR and junk food?”

“JR and junk food.”

We sit down on my bed side by side, just like we always do back in Kentucky. Ana finds
Never Really Alone
on Netflix, and we dig in to our snacks while we watch the movie again.

“Do you think we’ll meet JR while we’re here in Cali?” Ana asks.

“You never know.” Jacie Redinger is an A-list actress now, and horror movies are mostly in her past, but she does still act in one on occasion. “After what just happened, though, I really don’t want to think about meeting
anyone
that important.”

“Aw, but she’s your favorite!” Ana persists. “Come on, I bet she’d love to meet the daughter of the Grim Weeper.”

A derisive laugh escapes my throat. “Doubt it. She’s got much more important things to do.”

We sit in silence for a while, watching Raven Jones, JR’s character, creeping through dark hallways and listening to the sounds of the evil spirits that call to her in the night. Weird that her character’s name is Raven, considering the revelation we just had at Gio’s party. I guess they named her after the character’s pitch-black hair and somber disposition.

Ana’s mind is following the same track as mine, which happens a lot. She knows all about my missions since I showed her the AYMM posts in my blog. “Hey, JR has naturally dark hair, and she’s a little uppity in her interviews. Do you think she might be…?” Ana trails off, not wanting to say the word.

“Also doubtful. She might be uppity, but everybody loves Jacie Redinger. She’s great with her fans, and as far as I know, she’s never done anything remotely criminal in nature.”

“Yeah, but look at her.” Ana points up at the light-skinned, blue-eyed actress. “She looks
just like
you except for the nose.”

I study JR intently after that and identify several similarities in our looks. Eyes? Check. They’re the same shade of blue with the same long, dark eyelashes. Cheekbones? Check. Height? Double check. I could probably fit into her shoes. Our noses don’t match, but I know for a fact I got my nose from Dad. Our chins don’t match, either, but there’s an obvious reason for that too. Then I study her mouth, and a deep sense of dread washes over me. There’s no mistaking that our mouths match. We smile the same, we frown the same, and we even—

“
That’s my smirk!
” I yell in horror. Jacie has that sarcastic, arrogant, know-it-all smirk I’ve seen on my own face in the mirror zillions of times. It’s my trademark…or at least, I thought it was. I guess it was hers first.

Ana hyperventilates next to me. “Oh my God! Did we just find your mom?”

“No…it-it can’t be.” I shake my head, unable to take my eyes off the TV. “She’s not notorious, she’s a good person. I mean, she gives half of her money to charity, for God’s sake. Plus…she already has a daughter near my age.”

“Oh yeah…Raven,” Ana reminds me.

Both our eyes grow wide, and we gape at each other. “
Oh my God.
Her daughter’s name is Raven!”

“Raven Redinger is your doppelgänger?”

“Raven Redinger is my doppelgänger,” I repeat.

“
Whoa
…she’s hot!” At my shocked expression, Ana quickly backpedals. “I-I mean, she’s gorgeous. You should be happy to look like her.”

“That seems like a weird thing to focus on right now, dear,” I retort.

“Right…sorry,” Ana says. “Does she really look that much like you?”

I picture Raven in my head. “I dunno…maybe.”

“What do you think that means? You know, that you look like them?”

“I…I don’t know…” I shake my head incredulously. “I mean, if JR has a daughter our age, that pretty much rules her out, right?”

“Yeah…I guess so.”

We both turn to watch the movie again, and I shake my head as I stare at JR. “She really does look like me. That’s odd. Maybe they’re long-lost relatives or something.”

“That would mean your mom is related to them.”

“I don’t think the Redingers have any actress relatives, though.”

Ana shrugs, and we fall silent again. So weird. Jacie fits nearly every category, but she’s not my mother. So far this mission keeps hitting dead end after dead end.

***

Morning comes, and I don’t wake up until 11:30. The only reason I wake up then is because Dad bursts into my room with a picture on his phone and a massive scowl on his face. I rub my eyes sleepily as I sit up and try to make sense of what’s going on.

“Do you know what this is, Madison Alexandria?”

Uh-oh.
When he uses my first
and
middle name, that’s when I know I’m in trouble.

He holds the phone up in front of my face, and I am instantly horrified. It’s a picture of me in the pool after my swimsuit flipped down. It’s mercifully censored, but still, I am now in the deepest trouble I’ve ever been in.

“Dad, I…I can explain—”

“Explain what? That you went to a party without even tellin’ me? That you decided to go naked in front of a bunch of high school guys? I really thought you were better than this!” He’s yelling now, and his nostrils are flaring. He looks
incredibly
disappointed in me. “Someone posted this on the Internet, and now everyone is lookin’ at it and talkin’ about you! Where did I go wrong?”

“Everyone?” My voice is hoarse with tears. I should have known…social media makes it possible for someone to humiliate you in front of the whole world in a nanosecond. Now I
really
won’t be able to show my face in L.A. again. “Listen, it was an ac—”

“Don’t bother. I would ground you, but I doubt it would do any good.” He turns on his heel and tromps out of the room. Ana is still in my bed from staying with me last night, so she sits up after he leaves, looking sleepy and confused.

“What’s going on?” she asks through a yawn. Sobs take over, and I can’t reply. My crying wakes her up completely. “Mads, what’s wrong?”

“Someone took a picture of me in the pool, and now it’s all over the Internet. I…”
Hiccup
. “I might as well be dead.”